


One Story's End is Another Story's Beginning

by MerySim



Series: Tommy getting hurt and being taken care of [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Major Character Injury, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:35:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29143827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerySim/pseuds/MerySim
Summary: Relief flooded Tommy at once. Techno could help. He would help. Or at least he would kill him quickly. But he couldn't reach the knob. So he knocked again."Phil? You can come in." Techno spoke again. Tommy heard him climb down the ladder.Tommy tried to yell through the door, only to find a shooting pain go through his ribs. So they were bruised after all. He decided to knock one last time.There was shuffling inside for a moment and then the door opened to Techno holding his sword."Who's- Tommy?""Hey big man. You got some bandages?" Tommy spoke, and the world faded to black.
Relationships: SBI is a family - Relationship, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: Tommy getting hurt and being taken care of [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128617
Comments: 23
Kudos: 304





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I'm making a multi chap thing!
> 
> So people liked the Wilbur one so here we are.
> 
> Probably gonna cap it out at 6 parts but I have 2 others written rn so ye look forward to those.

Tommy dragged his legs through the snow. He was torn between relief at the cold against his injuries and screaming from the pain of pushing through the banks of snow. He knew he needed to stop moving and get warm soon or he'd be at risk of losing his arm at this rate.

He had jumped. He had jumped and somehow, for some _godforsaken reason_ , he fucking lived. He had built up that huge tower and half way down he regretted it. He wanted to live. But he had been too high. So when he tried to place water, he had been going too fast. 

His left arm was the worst. He had to reset the bone as best he could with a recently dislocated shoulder. He'd popped his shoulder back in himself too. He knew he needed help though. He couldn't handle his own injuries like they needed to. And so he'd set off towards the cottage he had found a week ago. 

His legs were better than his arms but they hadn't come out unscathed. He was pretty sure his right ankle was broken. It hurt so much still with all the adrenaline and shock still coursing through him. The left ankle was only sprained though from what he could tell, but that was the inventory when he landed.

Crawling out of the rubble left his body full of scrapes and scratches. He had nothing to treat any of his injuries then and still had none now. He had been walking for so long now. And he couldn't run. He was lucky enough to have found a chest with a sword in the village near Logsted, but it was only so much against the mobs.

He had survived the night, but it wasn't easy. He had gathered a number of burns, bite wounds and arrows. He had pulled out the arrows that had embedded themselves in his arms, lucky nothing had hit too close to his chest or he knew he wouldn't have made it. But with all the wounds he was losing blood. He had taken to semi-frequently taking the snow beneath his feet to clear off as much as he could and then burying it, trying to stop himself from leaving a trail behind him. It would be bad for infections but he wouldn't have to worry about an infection if it was Dream that found him. 

He was slowly losing steam. He checked the note he had written himself when he first found the hideaway. He was getting close. As a matter of fact he should start seeing the smoke from the chimney any second now. Tommy's breathing was too shallow now though. He knew it was, but he didn't have the strength to breath deeper. He pushed himself over the hill and spotted it. He nearly collapsed right there in relief. But he needed to get closer. No one would find him here before it was too late.

He scrambled down the hill, slipping and rolling down the second half. He groaned as he stood up, smiling weakly when he saw he was maybe 30 blocks away from the house. But he had to get there. The snow would bury him before anyone would exit or enter the house at the rate it was falling. He hobbled the last way, and he crawled up the stairs, unable to do it upright. He didn't bother standing up again to knock on the door weakly.

"Phil? It's unlocked!" Technos voice rang through the door. 

Relief flooded Tommy at once. Techno could help. He would help. Or at least he would kill him quickly. But he couldn't reach the knob. So he knocked again.

"Phil? You can come in." Techno spoke again. Tommy heard him climb down the ladder.

Tommy tried to yell through the door, only to find a shooting pain go through his ribs. _So they were bruised after all._ He decided to knock one last time.

There was shuffling inside for a moment and then the door opened to Techno holding his sword.

"Who's- Tommy?"

"Hey big man. You got some bandages?" Tommy spoke, and the world faded to black.

~~~~

Techno stood in shock for a moment. 

"What the fuck?"

And then Techno really saw Tommy. He was covered in blood, passed out on his porch, leaned against the railing.

"Oh shit."

He knelt down, carefully trying to assess the damage. His left arm wasn't quite straight, his shoulders looked uneven, and his right foot sat at an awkward angle. He carefully picked up the boy and brought him inside, clenching his teeth at the soft whimpers that came out of the boy.

He laid the boy on the large table close to the fireplace and grabbed the medical supply he kept handily near the door. He pulled out a bottle of honey and cloth bandages and started on the visible wounds.

The bleeding was fairly slow, so he assumed they were old wounds. He glazed the honey over the wounds, relief flooding as he could see the honey pull out the first signs of infection. He would handle the superficial wounds first then move on to the rest.

Quickly all of the bite marks and stab wounds were bandaged and cleaned as best he could. He moved to examine the more aggressive injuries he could see. Without the blood, Techno could see all of the bruising that had developed. Tommy had more purple visible than possibly clear skin showing at this point. 

Techno took a moment to breathe. The kid wouldn't die from anything left but holy shit was he hurt. How would he handle this? How the fuck did the kid get here? What the hell happened?

He sat down, head in his hands. He had at first been worried someone in L'Manburg had found him, but this was so much worse. And the fact he'd thought it was Phil... Oh fuck he had to call Phil. His head snapped up as he reached for his communicator. He didn't think to whisper and simply sent "Phil VC" to the whole server. Everyone knew they were still on good terms it didn't matter. Almost immediately he heard the call connect sound.

"Techno, you okay?" Techno let out a breath of relief at his Dad's voice.

"Y-yeah I'm fine, Phil." Techno rushed out.

"You dont sound it, Techno what's wrong?"

"I mean- Phil, I'm fine, but-" Techno looked up at Tommy laid out across his table.

"But what techno?"

"Tommy isn't fine." Techno rushed out. "Phil, you need to get here."

"Tommy? You're in Logsteadshire?" 

"No, no that's the thing. He's _here,_ Phil. He just fucking showed up and passed out on my fucking porch." 

"We're on our way. Ghostbur's here." Phil spoke immediately calming him. "Walk me through what's going on?"

"He- He's banged up pretty bad. Broken ankle, broken arm. Poorly reset dislocation, sprained ankle. Shit tonne of scrapes and mob wounds. His breathing is really shallow so I'm thinking bruised ribs?" Techno rattled off, his eyes scanning the boy. "I cleaned all the like wounds and shit but holy shit Phil what do I fucking do?"

"Techno you did good. We're gonna help, okay?"

"He was just sitting on the ground, knocked on the door. I thought it was you or something but he didn't come in and just knocked again, and so I went and grabbed my sword and looked and he fucking asked me for bandages and passed out in the fucking snow." Techno felt a drop on his leg, realizing he was crying. "He looked fucking dead. His ankle looks like he walked on it broken all the way from Logsted. It's a fucking swollen ball at this point. What the fuck happened?"

"Techno, you're not gonna like this. Ghostbur showed up not long before you called."

"Does- Does he remember what happened?"

"He wasn't there but. He said he had gone through and the place was blown up. He assumed it meant Tommy's 'vacation' was over and he was back. He also says there was a tower."

"He builds towers all the time what does that mean?" Techno asked.

"No not a cobble tower. Just a one by one tower. Out of random crap. Nearly up to build limit..." Phil trailed off.

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah, we were about to go looking in the rubble... I get hearing this is horrible for you but holy shit is it a relief for me."

"Well shit yeah you thought you were about to go pull my brother's body out of a fucking pit, I'm glad that you dont have to but shit. He fucking jumped." 

"But he's still here." Phil spoke firmly, almost as if he was telling himself rather than Techno.

"Yeah. Yeah he's right in front of me. He's asleep but his breathing is getting stronger. And- and he's not as pale as when he showed up." Techno rambled, trying to reassure both of them.

"We're leaving the nether. We'll be there in a minute. Just... sit tight yeah?" Phil spoke, his breath huffing out as he ran.

"I... we'll need to rebreak his arm. It's set wrong, looks like he tried to do it himself with one arm. But that shoulder doesn't look good. Couldn't have been easy but he tried."

"That's the stupid stubborn shit we know." Phil chuckled wetly.

"Heh yeah it is. I have um- I have a chest of potions downstairs. Come in through that way and bring up what you think we need?"

"Yeah of course, we're coming over the hill."

"Hey, Phil! What's this pile? It's got red in it?" Techno could hear Ghostbur, somewhat quieter than Phil, through the comms.

"What? Show me!" 

"Here!"

"Oh fuck."

"Phil what is it?" Techno asked.

"Kid was covering his tracks. There's a pile of red snow covered in clean snow." Phil said down the call.

Techno tried througha barrage of the voices in his mind. _It was Dream. Who else would he be running from? Protect the child. You could kill Dream. Blood for the Blood God._ "Dream. He cant find out we know where Tommy is."

"What?" Phil sounded confused.

"Dream wanted him in exile. He was visiting him. Who else would Tommy be running from to cover his tracks?"

"Shit. You're right. Looks like he rolled down here." Phil spoke, his breathing picking back up as they ran. "I'm putting away my comms, we're here."

Techno dropped the device on the table beside Tommy, and went back to investigating the boy. A second later he heard the door downstairs open and shut and then a chest open.

"Hey Techno! Where's-" Techno spun around blocking sight of the table.

"Ghostbur, I need you to listen to me before you see him, okay?" Techno spoke seriously. If he freaked out and woke Tommy, it would be bad.

"Yeah for sure!" Ghostbur smiled brightly, intently listening.

"Tommy is hurt. Like really hurt. He's going to be fine, me and Phil are gonna help him, but he looks bad."

Ghostburs smile fell from his face instantly. "H-how? What happened?"

"I- It's really fucking sad, Ghostbur." Techno sighed. "I don't want you to forget it and what's happened to him with it. Don't want you to go through it all again, really."

"Oh. Okay, I trust you Technoblade." Ghostbur nodded slowly. 

"Okay. Now, it's gonna make you feel blue. But you can't go. He's gonna need you when he wakes up, okay?" Techno said softly. In his mind he added, _and we're gonna need you until then._

"Okay, I'll try." Techno stepped to the side and heard a gasp. "Oh... he's all blue."

"Yeah he's bruised pretty bad." Techno explained. "I- I think he fell down a lot. Both of his ankles look pretty bad but from what I can tell nothing really bad happened specifically for the bruises. So falling over a lot explains just the... explains how much is blue."

"Oh. Techno I don't want to remember this."

"Ghostbur... if you forget you'll have to see him again like this and remember again."

"Right..." ghostbur was silent for a while. "Can I hold his hand?"

Technos stance softened at the question. "Yeah, yeah you can. I think he'd like that. Come on, hold this one. Me and Phil have to fix his other arm in a second." Techno sighed in relief as their father climbed up the ladder by the door.

"Is he?"

"I talked to Bur. He's gonna be okay. Tommy's still asleep."

"Okay, okay." Phil nodded. Slowly he turned to Tommy and let out a shocked cry. "Oh shit."

"I know. I know Phil."

"Holy shit he was worse when he got here?" Phil looked to Techno concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah he was." 

"Come here." Phil threw his arms around Techno. "You did so good, kid. He's gonna be fine."

Techno let himself cry into his dad's shoulder. He had been telling himself that since he'd picked up Tommy but hearing someone else say so too? The relief of realizing he hadn't been lying to himself crashed over him. Knowing that he had been able to save him. Knowing that Tommy would be dead otherwise, whether it was from exposure or from untreated injuries. It all became too much now that he knew he didn't have to keep carefully detached so that Tommy would survive. Because Tommy would survive. "Tommy's gonna live."

"Yeah, yeah he is. And we're gonna protect him this time." Phil rubbed soft circles into his back as he sobbed harder. They should have protected him the first time.

Abruptly, techno stood back and scrubbed the tears from his face. "His- his arm. We need to reset it before it heals too much."

"Okay. I have planks and some leather strips from downstairs." Phil nodded moving to the table. "Hey Ghostbur. Me and Techno have to do a thing that is gonna hurt Tommy, but it's to help him I promise."

"Okay. I'm gonna hold his hand." Techno smiled at that.

"Sounds good. He might jerk for a minute, maybe open his eyes a bit. But if he does, odds are that he passes out again." Phil spoke softly.

"Should I give him blue?"

"After he get him all fixed up, sure but we don't want any blue to get stuck in anything before, okay? When he's awake enough to hold it himself, then you'll know." 

"Okay." Ghostbur nodded and softly took the boy's hand.

"Okay. Phil I'm ready." Techno nodded to himself.

"Okay, you wanna break it or should I?"

"I'll break it. It'll be faster what with your creaky bones." Techno spoke weakly.

"Did you call me old while deciding which of us would-"

"Tommy's shit humor normally fills these holes, I dunno."

"I'll let you get away with that one given the circumstances. I'm gonna hold his shoulder and elbow in place. On 3. 1... 2... 3!"

A sickening snap rang out, followed quickly by a blood curdling scream. "Tommy, you're gonna be okay."

"W-wilby?"

Phil and Technos eyes snapped to the boy's face. "N- Um, yeah Tommy, I'm here, holding your hand." Ghostbur motioned for them to continue. And so they started pressing the bones back into place.

"It hurts. Wilbur it hurts..." 

"I know, Phil and Techno are helping you."

"Dad?" Phil's eyes snapped back to Tommy hearing his voice.

"Hey kiddo, you're banged up pretty bad."

"I have uh, a b-roken ankle and the other one is sprained." Phil and Techno paused, shocked as Tommy listed out his injuries. "I tried to keep everything clean like you taught me. I-"

"Oh, Toms we know. You've been asleep for a while." Phil spoke softly, moving to hold the boy's second hand. Techno finished wrapping the splint around the boy's forearm.

"Breathing hurts a bit. I dont think anything is broken but maybe dislocated?"

"You're right. It's not broken. But it's just bruised a lot." Techno answered then.

"Oh." Tommy whispered softly, gritting his teeth from the pain.

"Tommy you can sleep, we've got you." Phil whispered, brushing a hand through Tommy's hair.

Tommy shook his head slightly at that. "Can't. Hurts too much."

"Phil, get him a healing pot." Techno spoke up. Phil nodded and grabbed one from his inventory. 

"Tommy, open up this will help." Tommy slowly drank the potion, sighing as the potion numbed the pain in his arm and chest.

"What woke me up?" He asked after a minute.

"We had to rebreak your arm. You tried but it wasn't straight. Can't have been easy with that shoulder." Techno gestured to the swollen joint.

"Oh yeah. Do you have slowness?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I'll do you one better. I have turtle master." Techno spoke up.

"You have turtles out here?" Tommy tried to look amused.

"Who do you think I am, gremlin?" He joked weakly, moving to grab the potion.

"Of course, The _Blade_ , you wouldn't let a bit of ice stop you."

Techno came back the potion. "Hey Ghostbur, help him sit up a bit so he can take this."

"Okay, Tommy I've got you." Ghostbur immediately moved closer to Tommy's head and slid his hand under his shoulders.

"I'm not a fucking- okay fuck it I guess I am an invalid if not a child."

"Exactly. Nice to see you've got your humor still." Ghostbur grinned, as Techno brought the potion to his mouth.

"Tommy we have to set that ankle. And your shoulder. You wanna do both at once or one at a time?" Phil asked softly.

"Both. Just want it over with." Tommy took a deep shuddering breath, looking up at Phil.

"Okay. Okay, Ghostbur, swap sides with Phil." Techno started. "He's gonna scream again. Remember what I said earlier yeah?"

"Yeah, I know." Ghostbur spoke almost sounding like Wilbur with how somber he sounded. Phil and Techno got into position, Phil at Tommy's shoulder and Techno at the broken ankle.

"Okay, Tommy. Mine is gonna take a bit longer but the shoulder should be good pretty quick." Techno laid out the makeshift splint on either side of Tommy's ankle. "On 3, yeah?"

"Just fucking do it, holy fuck it hurts now."

"That would be the shock wearing off. Okay Phil, 1... 2... 3"

Tommy's back arched as he screamed. Techno didn't stop, couldn't stop until the splint was set. Phil nearly dropped his arm as the boy moved but pushed through to realign the joint properly. 

"Hey Tommy, I'm right here. When we're all done I'll give you some blue yeah? Blue will help too." Ghostbur whispered, running a hand through Tommy's hair.

"Holy shit, stop stop stop its-"

"Tommy I know it hurts but I have to set this now." Techno spoke, pushing down the panic that was climbing up his throat.

"Stop fucking touching me!" 

"I'm almost done Tommy," Techno tried to sound soothing but failed miserably and instead coming out aggressive. 

"Please, please it hurts." Tommy whimpered.

"Tommy, look at me. You're okay. Focus on me, yeah?" Phil cut in, leaning to block Tommy's view of Techno. "Good, now just focus on breathing. Try and match me okay?"

Techno heard Tommy whimpering still as he worked to align everything as best he could, pressing the planks into place and finishing wrapping it tightly. As soon as he had tied off the cloth he pulled his hands away ad stepped back.

Techno looked up at Ghostbur then. Oh god he looked so scared. Techno slowly walked around the table. He softly placed an arm around the ghost, trying to cool his face into something comforting. "It's all done now. Just rest and potions now and everything will be good as new."

"Oh thank god." Tommy sighed.

"Rest up. We'll have potions for you when you wake up." Phil spoke softly. Tommy simply nodded and closed his eyes. Phil chuckled weakly after a moment of quiet breathing. "Motherfucker is already asleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter notes for this! I wrote this bit in like 3 hours and then didn't want to leave it alone and it sprouted this.
> 
> Disclaimer not only am I not a medical professional, I don't think much of this is medically accurate. The honey is not a thing you should do. It's from how drinking honey can cure poison in minecraft lmao.
> 
> I got really excited with this because it's the first fic I've written that completely ignores a lot of canon so like it feels more creative but yeah I hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is huge trigger warning for like suicide and PTSD i guess? We see logsted and talk about Tommy and the lava but it's all about if it were really his death so yeah. Be careful friends :)
> 
> I'm kinda proud of this one though.

The four of them had holed up in the house for 2 and a half weeks. Tommy had been moved from the table to Technos own bed after they had caught their breath. And while the boy had been asleep, Ghostbur built an awkward cottage next door. It barely had anything in it but it had 3 fully kitted bedrooms. It wasn't as warm or as cozy as technos home but it wasn't meant to be. It was just a bunkhouse for which ever two were sleeping that night while the third watched Tommy. 

Tommy found the whole thing a bit ridiculous. He wasn't gonna die in the middle of the night anymore. Not at least since he'd arrived at technos home and was hidden from Dream.

They had remained practically unbothered after Tommy's arrival. Tommy was now nearly 100% thanks to the potions. They were sitting in the living space of Technos house, listening to Ghostbur play his guitar when Phil heard a ping from his communicator.

Phil grabbed the device and read the message carefully. "Oh fuck."

The guitar stopped.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Tommy asked. If there was any other message, Phil would have melted at being called Dad again but....

"Its Tubbo." Phil spoke carefully. "He's been to Logsted."

Phil looked down at his communicator, reading over the words again.  _ Hey Phil. I've been to Logsted today and... There's something I need to talk to you about. If you know where Ghostbur and Techno are you should bring them too. _

"Wait really?" Tommy said excitedly, "He wanted to visit?"

"Tommy... Logsted is blown to shit and you're not there." Techno spoke up connecting the pieces.

"Oh."

"He wants to talk to us."

"Us being who?" Techno asked.

"Me, you and Ghostbur."

"Not me?" Tommy deflated.

"Tommy... I don't..." phil tried. 

"He might think you're dead, Tommy." Ghostbur said. "Like me!"

"Oh. Oh shit."

"Tommy we need to go see him but we need to talk about this first." Phil said.

"You shouldn't go back to Logsted either way." Techno added in.

"He's right but also, should we tell him you're okay?"

"What? Of course you tell him! That's-"

"Tommy. If we tell him you're okay, Dream might find out you're okay too and start looking for you." Phil interrupted. "And if he finds out that we're the ones who told Tubbo you're okay he might realize you're with us."

Tommy was silent, fear slowly covering his face. "No. No dream he can't find me- I can't-"

"Tommy we know. We know and we'll protect you either way." Techno spoke up. "But if Tubbo and the rest of them think you're dead and think we think you're dead, then that at least buys us time."

"You- you guys have thought about this." Tommy realized, shocked. 

"We talked once about it, the first day. But we wanted to get you healed up before we brought it up to you." Phil explained. "But we didn't think about someone trying to visit you. You had been saying no one came so.."

"Yeah. Yeah okay..." Tommy nodded.

"I have to respond to this soon Tommy," Phil added. "But we'll do what you choose. Techno and I can fight Dream if he shows up or we can try running further if you don't want to lie to Tubbo but... letting him think you're dead... that's what's most strategic."

"I- we can tell him later right?" 

"Of course." Phil nodded "We're not hiding forever. Just we should gear up, make allies and get you back into fighting shape before we take on Dream."

"Okay... oh fuck I'm telling you to tell my best friend I'm dead." Tommy looked like he had just processed it all.

"Well if it makes you feel better we're just not telling him you aren't." Ghostbur spoke up.

"You're not gonna forget?" Tommy teased. 

"No, I haven't forgotten why I'm here or that you're hurt." Ghostbur said proudly. "And if I forget you're alive for when I'm with them it would probably help anyway."

"Oh fuck, Ghostbur you still dont know how he got hurt."

"No, you didn't want me to forget it." Ghostbur turned dumbly to Techno.

"Ghostbur, how do you feel about hearing how from Tubbo?" Techno asked.

"He knows?"

"It's probably how he thinks Tommy died." Phil said softly.

"Oh. Well I um... probably would help selling it if I actually don't know, right?" Ghostbur nodded slowly.

"Okay." Tommy nodded. "Fuck, it's depressing thinking about that."

"I mean pretty on the nose yeah." Techno joked weakly.

"Halfway I regretted it. I won't try again, promise."

"We have to leave you alone for a while though. We have a crate of invis in my room, in case but just stay away from the windows and you'll be good." Techno spoke up, changing the topic.  


"Telling tubbo we're on the way. We have a minute though he doesn't know how far we are." Phil spoke as he typed away on his comms.

"Smart."

"He wants us to meet in the nether at the portal." Phil stood up. "Tommy if anything happens call us and press the button under Techno's bed. We set up a stasis thing under the house. It'll look like we came back from mining if they dont spot you."

"Since when is there a button under the bed?"

"Since the first day, kid. We had a while to work while you slept for 20 hours." Techno playfully nudged his shoulder.

"I was injured!" Tommy shouted.

"I know that's why I've only teased you about it 20 times instead of 100."

"Oh go pretend I'm dead you bitch."

~~~~~

Techno spotted Tubbo first. The kid looked a mess. His suit was covered in dust and had a small tear in the sleeve of the jacket but otherwise looked fine.

"Ah, Mr President, what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Please- please just call me Tubbo for this okay." The kid sounded as bad as he looked. His voice rough and his face was splotchy now that the trio were closer.

"Tubbo... you look like shit kid, are you okay?" Phil asked, real concern bleeding through. Techno often forgot that Tubbo had almost joined their weird family. He was always around and in that period of time when Tubbo hadn't found The Captain again he had turned to Phil often enough.

"I- I'm fine, Phil, I'm okay." Tubbo rushed out. "But... Tommy isn't."

"Is he sick?" Ghostbur added. "Me and Phil made health potions, if he is, I can go get some!"

Techno was going to bring that up later. Ghostbur was as good as Wilbur at acting.

"He's- oh fuck I have to say this. He's gone." Tubbo was crying as he said that. 

"What do you mean he's gone? Couldn't even keep the gremlin in exile could you?" Techno hated himself for the jab, knowing what Tubbo meant and knowing Tommy was okay.

"He's DEAD you asshole!" Tubbo shouted.  _ Good, be angry instead of sad _ , Techno thought.

"He's what?" Phil whispered.

"Im- I'm so sorry, I should have been here. I should have visited sooner." Tubbo backed towards the portal.

Phil took that as his cue to push past Tubbo and walk through the portal. Techno found himself frozen in place. Just now realizing he had to see Logsted now. He and Phil hadn't visited. They only heard what had happened from Ghostbur and small details from Tommy. He didn't want to see. But he knew he had to.

"Technoblade, I'm sorry-" Tubbo cut himself off.

"Show me where." He spoke simply, following Tubbo as they walked through the portal.

Techno knew that it wasn't pretty but holy shit did he underestimate it. There were blast holes everywhere. The tents he saw the last time he passed through were gone. The stupid Christmas tree stayed.

"Tubbo what happened here."

"I- I don't know." Tubbo stuttered. "It- I- Ranboo finally convinced me Tommy wouldn't... wouldn't hate me for visiting and it was like this when I got here."

"You hadn't VISITED?" Techno let himself be angry. Tommy had been alone for so long and it drove him to- "Where- Where is he?"

"I can't find his body..."

"Then how can you know he's DEAD?!" Techno shouted. 

"Techno over here" he heard Phil from behind him. He heard how broken his voice was and turned, almost expecting Phil to be hurt himself.

And then he looked.

"Oh my god." Techno felt himself walking forward before he thought about it. The house Ghostbur had made was a crater. He walked to Phil's side. "Phil, did you..."

He froze spotting a burnt map. Except when he picked it up and flipped it over it wasn't a map. It was a charred picture of Tommy and Tubbo from a beach day long ago. He quickly put the paper into his pocket, he would give it to Tommy after he cleaned it up a bit.

"Techno he-" Phil was crying. He knew in his gut he would be too. "Techno look up."

Techno swallowed. He knew what he would see. But he had to see. And so he tilted his head back and set eyes on the tower. "Oh fuck." He found himself frozen staring at the tower.

"Oh Tommy built a tower!" Ghostbur spoke. 

"Wilbur..." Tubbo spoke softly. "That's how- Tommy built that tower and he-"

"Oh? You know what he did with it?" Ghostbur looked curious. 

"Ghostbur, remember what I said about forgetting and then going through it again?" Techno said softly, still staring at the tower.

"Yeah you said I would be sad all over again."

"This is one of those moments okay?" Techno spoke again.

"Oh. It's not a happy tower." Ghostbur responded. 

"Ghostbur. He jumped off to kill himself." Phil spoke that time. Techno turned to look at Phil now. Tears were streaming down his face. He wanted so bad to hug Phil and remind him that Tommy was alive and okay and waiting for them back home. But he couldn't. 

"Dad... he's gone..." Techno hadn't realized he was crying too until Phil turned to him for a moment.

"I'm finding him." And Phil launched himself towards the rubble at the bottom of the tower. 

"Phil-"

"I'm FINDING him." Phil shouted pulling away piece after piece of rubble.

"He did it to himself..." Ghostbur whispered. "He would always look at the lava for too long..."

"Hey, hey, Ghostbur, look at me." Techno turned to the ghost.

"Techno he did it to himself, because he didn't want to be alive." Ghostbur cried. He hadn't been sure he could.

"I know Ghostbur."

"Why?"

"Ghostbur-"

"I WANT TO KNOW! I WANT TO KNOW WHO DID THIS!"

"Dream. It's always been Dream." Tubbo spoke up behind Ghostbur.

"Dream but he- Oh. He took the invitations."

"Invitations?" Techno asked.

"He wanted to have a party. Dream said he could. But Tommy wasn't allowed to go invite people. Dream said that he would give the rest out... but no one came." Ghostbur said. "Not even you."

"He invited me?"

"You're his brother... and he was really lonely." Ghostbur spoke, slowly realizing what had happened. "He was alone when he- when he jumped."

"He was. Yeah." Techno whispered. 

"I don't wanna remember that... I don't wanna think about that."

"I know, neither do I. But we can't forget this. Because we love Tommy and we'll think about him and then other people we love would have to tell us again and we'd go through it over and over again. And then those people we love would have to see us go through it again." Techno pulled Ghostbur into a hug. "We can be sad together, okay?"

"Okay, Techno."

"Let's go get Phil."

Techno looked at Tubbo for a moment before turning to the pit. He slowly walked over to where Phil was pulling at the rubble. He was working himself up. Techno hopped down into the pit and carefully came behind Phil.

"He's- Tommy's in here-"

"Phil... he's not in there. He's gone."

"NO!" Phil snapped his head to the side, not making eye contact still. "I'm not burying another empty casket. I won't."

"Phil... He's not here." Techno could see the guilt on Phil's face. And Techno could see that despite remembering where Tommy was, Phil was lost in his own head. "Phil we-"

"I'M NOT LEAVING HIM LIKE I LEFT WILBUR" Phil shouted, before seeing Techno. "I-"

Techno felt his heart break, realizing just where in his head he'd gone. Techno knelt down and hugged Phil. He whispered softly so that only he and Phil heard him. "Phil he's okay. He's home. You didn't lose him." 

Phil had gotten lost in the memory of what had happened in the war. They had spent a long time together in the wreckage of L'manburg, looking for Wilbur's body. Phil had returned to the room he had left Wilbur in to go fight and he had disappeared. They had spent hours trying to figure out where his body had gone, looking through all of the rubble they could. They had eventually decided that a Wither had hit either Wilbur or nearby and the blast had erased whatever had been left. And it seems like Phil hadn't forgiven himself.

Phil wrapped his arms around Techno and broke finally. Loud ugly sobs from not only the death of Wilbur but from what had almost taken place. Techno simply held his dad as they both cried.

Tubbo slowly approached the two. "I- I'm so sorry- I shouldn't have-"

"No, Tubbo you're right. It was always Dream."

"It's always been me and Tommy versus Dream and right after I got this stupid presidency, I threw it away." Tubbo shook his head. "I- I failed him."

"No, no Tubbo, you didn't." Phil sniffed hard. "I did. I'm his dad and I didn't even visit more than once. And I'm not a kid who was being actively manipulated."

"I thought he hated me." Tubbo whispered. 

"Oh Tubbo, he could never hate you." Phil gestured for Tubbo to join the hug. "He loves you so much."

"Hey, maybe he'll come back as a ghost like me! He really did miss you." Ghostbur added weakly.  


"I miss him so much. I thought I'd finally be able to see him and now... Now maybe I wont get to see him again."

Techno felt his heart clench at that. "I promise eventually you guys will be together again." He found himself saying.

"Thanks, Techno." Tubbo whispered finally.

The four sat in an awkward pile, half hugging half simply just being close. They sat among the rubble of Logsted, tears drying on their faces.

"So what now?" Techno asked.

"I'm not running again. I don't know that I could run again knowing Tommy is never gonna be my Vice... We have the resources to host a funeral."

"And what about Techno not being allowed in L'Manburg?" Phil asked.

"I- I'll need to talk to Quackity and Fundy. I- You should be pardoned. What you did, you did to me and Tommy not them. But If they refuse then I'll make sure you have temporary immunity for the funeral. They might have tough grudges but they're not cruel enough to keep a brother away from a funeral." Tubbo rambled. "Oh shit I have to tell Fundy and everyone. I- I won't bring them here, this is different but-"

"Hey, you'll figure it out." Techno placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should go... not that we want you gone just I get the feeling you haven't told anyone where you've been all day."

"Oh shit, you're right." Tubbo pulled his communicator out, the notification light blinking softly. "Quackity is asking where I am. I'm telling him I'm on my way back."

"Tubbo, I know you'll be good at planning the funeral, if you think you could handle it?" Phil sighed.

"Yeah of course. I um- Whisper me if you think of anything I should add or anything really."

"I think the three of us are gonna spend time at Techno's for a while. Family and all that." Phil nodded.

"Yeah makes sense."

"Hey, when you're not the head of government, I'll let you know where it is. You can come hide out with us." Techno nudged him with a shoulder.

"Fair enough" Tubbo chuckled, standing up. "I'll... see you at the funeral if not sooner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update! So yeah tubbo is heartbreaking but PHIL and GHOSTBUR!!!! I put them all through the ringer here but honestly Phil's bit gets me the most.
> 
> Genuinely the idea that Phil didn't get a funeral for Wilbur is so upsetting to me in canon so I made it worse and had him do it alone and with an empty casket. 
> 
> So if you haven't picked up on it, this is getting big angst. And just like next chap they talk about trauma and shit and then the next is Tommy's funeral so please stop reading if you cant handle that. 
> 
> But yeah end of chapter! I hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a therapy chapter lmao
> 
> They all have trauma!!!!!!!

Tommy was fiddling around with Wilbur's old guitar. He'd been bored for a while now, since the rest of his family had left a few hours ago. He was thinking about how Tubbo would have reacted to seeing Logsted, deciding if Tubbo would be sad or not. He had settled on Tubbo being sad. Even if Tubbo didn't care anymore they still had all those memories together. 

He was rudely thrown from his thoughts when the door flew open and he was tackled by Ghostbur.

"Woah woah, hey there." 

"I'm sorry Tommy. I shouldn't keep letting myself forget everything. I keep forgetting and you get hurt. So so hurt, I'm sorry." Ghostbur cried.

"Hey, you're all dead and shit, memory is gonna be hard." Tommy tried to comfort him.

"But I can remember! Look at me remembering everything now. I could have but I let myself. And look at you."

"Hey, I did this to myself, that's-"

"But it is my fault. I could have helped and I didn't because it made me sad. That's not good."

"Hey, I promise it's not. And hey, I'm still here." Tommy spoke softly, looking up to see Techno and Phil had finally walked in the house. Phil looked exhausted, and was being ushered along to the bedroom upstairs by Techno. Ghostburs tears slowly dried and he sat back from Tommy with a sigh. 

"Hey kid." Techno smiled softly, after Phil had closed the door upstairs.

"Is he okay?" Tommy asked, quietly concerned. 

"Yeah, he's fine. It was just a lot."

"Why? Was tubbo-"

"Tubbo was Tubbo. Nothing like that. Just.." Techno sighed. "The rubble and Tubbo said he couldn't find you. It reminded Phil too much of... y'know..."

"Oh. Oh that's... I didnt think about that." 

"Neither did I, Toms. It hit a little hard so he's tired." Techno slumped onto the couch next to Tommy. "Tubbo's planning a funeral. He's also trying to get me pardoned completely."

"Good luck with getting Quackity to agree to that. Maybe if you cry really hard at my funeral?" Tommy joked. "Sorry, it's weird to think about having a funeral."

"I can only imagine." Techno huffed. "Tubbo said to tell him anything we thought of for it."

"Oh... uh. Skeppy has Cat. It would be nice if he played it." Tommy spoke hesitantly. 

"We can suggest anything and the worst case is it doesn't happen." Techno nodded, pulling out his notebook to write suggestions in.

"Everyone could like, walk from my embassy down the prime path to the church for me?" Tommy looked up to his brother. "But I'd want a view for my grave. Something nice, not a sad dark cave tomb like Schlatt has."

"Anything else?" Techno asked softly. The conversation felt light and heavy at the same time. Thinking about the implications of repeating this when he was actually dead but the fact it was a lie and Tommy was okay right now was jarring.

"No, I don't think so. But I'd want it to be soon. I don't like the thought of having been dead for weeks before a funeral, especially if they had my body, yknow." Tommy sighed.

"Okay. We'll probably send something off to Tubbo later tonight. Just so we'd have had time to think, right." Techno closed the notebook.

"How was he?"

"Tubbo or Dad? Either way rough. I feel bad a bit. I knew what Tubbo thought but he didn't know that I knew so I poked at him. Told him he couldn't keep you in exile or something. Made him mad though which is good. Means he's got his fire still." Techno's eyes widened for a moment, before he reached to his pocket and pulled out the page. "Oh and uh, I found a picture of you and Tubbo."

Tommy slowly took the page from Techno, smiling softly at the picture. "I thought they all burned. I had all my pictures of Tubbo and like good gear in a hidden hole in the main house. Dream found it and spotted the gear, got mad. It was the final straw for him I guess. I didn't have time to grab anything before he'd literally filled the whole room with TNT and was lighting it." Tommy hadn't spoken much about Dream since he'd arrived. He'd said a few things like it was Dream who had blown everything up and that he had run after he left but not details like this. "I survived the blast obviously. But he just went around placing it everywhere. I mean, it wasn't that odd for him to be blowing up my shit but he had always just dug a hole and had me put things in it. Pretty sure he was checking if I had more stashes. But it was only the one."

"Tommy... you don't have to tell us if you're not ready."

"I want to. And honestly probably wouldn't ever be entirely ready. Dream fucked me up pretty good. He was the only one visiting regularly, so I ended up listening to him too much. He would take all of my gear any time it was just me or Ghostbur. Never in front of anyone else. Kept me needing help to survive. And then he was the help. It's super fucked with hindsight but, I was lonely and no one wanted to come see me except him. And when he wasn't blowing up my stuff he was nice. Let me try his riptide trident and keep a channeling one. That was the day I tried to have a beach party."

"Dream stopped me from delivering the invitations." Ghostbur cut in. "I'm sorry but I didn't remember until today that he had..."

"Not your fault that Dream is a dick." Tommy shrugged. "But yeah. I figured either something stopped you or someone took them after they were delivered. Ranboo came around the next day and he hadn't heard about it at all. But yeah. He was crazy at the nice to dickhead ratio. So toward the end he'd basically convinced me he was my only friend. I was still trying to have my own things but I was so panicked about the idea that my last friend would leave if I did the wrong thing. And he found it all."

Tommy took a deep shuddering breath. Talking was good but holy shit did he wish he didn't have to talk about it. But he was happy it was Techno and Ghostbur he was talking about it with.

"It was so stupid, too. He was digging one of the TNT holes but we had just been fucking with the Prime Log and stuff. So he just happened to dig and he saw the cobble under where he thought it should have been. And well you guys know the next bit. The whole time I was just trying to apologize because... well I was trying to get him to stop. He kinda snapped then. Said his normal thing about how no one wanted me around, but he kinda slipped up. He didn't say that he was my friend that time. He said that he was there spending his time watching me and how I was the only one who never listened to anyone or anything and that's why people didn't want me around. And then he broke the portal. Told me I wasn't allowed to have visitors anymore, and he wouldn't be coming as often. Basically until I learned I would be all alone. Not allowed home and not allowed my things and not allowed any friends anymore."

Techno didn't know if he should respond. He didn't want to stop Tommy but also holy shit he was just baring his heart. Techno knew he was crying. Tommy was too. But it was okay because they were safe and they were home.

"I know it was bullshit now. I know he was probably secretly keeping people away from me. But I didn't then. And I had nothing, no one, and I didn't even have a bed anymore. And I thought I had lost my last connection to the people back in L'Manburg. So I figured if no one wanted me and I had nothing and no one would even visit, no one would even notice. And uh. Yeah I decided I was gonna die. It wasn't like instantly after he left so I had made a water bucket to put out the fires but by then I gave up. I took the blocks I'd got from mining the iron and built the tower, and jumped. Half way down I regretted it. Kinda realized exactly what dream was doing and what I was doing too. I grabbed the bucket and tried to stop my fall, but well you saw how high it went."

"Shit Tommy." Techno whispered. "And you got up and walked here?"

"Yeah, uh, a few weeks ago I was trying to get spruce logs. Found your place. Dad somehow knew I was there I dunno how but he messaged me saying you wouldn't want me going in without you around. So I just remembered where it was. At first it was to avoid you but... well I showed up here after everything so."

"I love you too Tommy" Techno joked, sniffing softly. "I'm so glad you found here."

"So am I. I mean not just because I would be dead if I hadn't. I- I forgot what having a family was like for a while. I mean with going through wars just to be exiled again? And with how the last one ended... I mean there's a reason it was so easy for Dream to convince me no one cared." Tommy shrugged nervously. "But that you all showed up and stayed. It reminded me of before everything, y'know. Obviously we're all different and shit happened, but we still all came together and we're here."

"I think it was a wake up call for all of us, when you showed up. It was a no brainer at first, fix you up and make sure you don't die. But it was kinda like, recentering?" Techno started. "I had no clue what I was doing out here and Phil was being pulled between trying to deal with Wilbur dying and you and Tubbo's shit after the war and not just abandoning me too. It forced us to realize what was really important."

Tommy was silent for a while. "What you did was fucked. Both of you."

"I know."

"Wil was worse than you to be fair, but he's dead now, so I blamed you a lot. I think I still blame you a bit for not helping him. For encouraging shit."

"I know."

"I blame Dad too though."

"You do?"

"Wil had already pushed the button. It was done. And Phil watched him do it." Tommy whispered. "He didn't stop him and then he still killed him. He could have taken Wilbur here or something. Taken him away and got him help. But I watched him kill our brother. And like I get he went through it too and he hadn't been around until the war was over and he had no context for any of it. But he killed Wilbur after, so it wasn't even to stop him."

"Oh, Toms." Techno breathed out. "I- Honestly I didn't watch it happen. I was focused on my own fucked up plan."

"He begged him." Ghostbur spoke. "Wilbur, that is. He begged Phil to kill him."

"What?"

"Phil protected Wilbur from the blast. I think he expected the blast would get him. And so when he wasn't dead he started asking Phil to kill him." Ghostbur's voice sounded more like Wilbur's than it had since the two brothers could remember. "Phil didn't want to. Wilbur basically pushed the sword into his hand. And he called him Killza. He just dug in until Phil caved."

"Oh fuck." Tommy exhaled. 

"It's how I got here so I can't forget it." Ghostbur sighed. "I haven't told Phil I remember though."

"Why not?" Techno asked.

"He's really sad when we talk about Alive Wilbur. I don't know how well he'd take it to know I remember him killing me... him? Us? Dying is a weird bit to say who's memory it is." Ghostbur shrugged. "But yeah, I just don't wanna bring it up and make him sad."

"He's gonna be sad whenever you tell him."

"I know, but I want to let him be happy a little longer."

"What was it like?" Tommy asked quietly.

"Dying?" Tommy nodded. "For Wilbur, it was a relief. I think for him it was him finally being free. He was finally done losing, y'know?"

"Losing?"

"I don't remember a lot but it wasn't ever him that won things. You got independence and he was proud of you but it wasn't him that won. The festival didn't go the way he wanted either. Then you won because Schlatt had a heart attack of all things. It was enough for him." Ghostbur rambled. "And Phil gave him a win. And he was done." 

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"I don't remember him deciding to die though."

"He thought he was alone even with everyone around him. Just like me." Tommy spoke. "He thought everyone had betrayed him. And he thought we would all be better if he took out Lmanburg and himself with it."

"That makes sense." Ghostbur nodded slowly. 

"Holy shit this is a lot."

"Oh shit, sorry Tech."

"No, no. It's good. It's good you both are talking about it and I'm glad you're both good to talk with me around and with each other." Techno interjected. "Just, the voices are gonna have a field day with this when the shock has run its course, yknow."

"Hey at least they won't be yelling 'do a flip' at you." Tommy chuckled. "That was actually funny though."

"Bruhhhh" Techno laughed. "But yeah, It's fucking horrible what happened to both of you, and I'm glad it didn't fuck you up too much to talk about it. Conflicting shit."

"Bro tell me about it." Tommy poked almost jokingly. 

"Really?"

"We just did." Ghostbur said. 

"I- I had nightmares after I killed Tubbo." Techno took a deep breath, trying to ground himself. "Ghostbur you probably don't remember anything about this, but when I was younger I was practically forced into fighting other kids for entertainment. It was a long time ago but I still cave anytime someone wants me to fight. It's part of why I came here in the first place. So when Schlatt called me up in front of everyone I was shot right back. I was waiting for you guys to say something but Tommy was too concerned about Tubbo and Wilbur was freaking out over the Button being gone."

"What were the nightmares?" Tommy asked softly.  


"I was back in the ring from when I was a kid. But Tubbo was my opponent for the season or something like that. So multiple fights where he couldn't heal completely from the last round. Sometimes at the end I'd look at him and it wouldn't be Tubbo anymore it would be you. The whole pit thing didn't help with it all."

"I should have realized honestly. It was just Tubbo, y'know? But you get dramatic. All the 'Violence is a universal language erm erm erm in the pit'"

"Rude. But yeah. I've always been a silent sleeper." Techno shrugged. "But yeah so after that when you were doing the government shit in front of me, it added up. The voices wanted blood so I let them have it. And then Wilbur was dead and you were already mad at me. Flipped my head and brought in the big guns."

"And got dramatic, calling me Theseus and shit."

"I didn't find out until later you were on your last life. I knew about the duel but I still don't know what took your other one."

"The final control room." Tommy sighed.  


"I know that name." Ghostbur looked up shocked.

"Yeah you remember getting there. That's where the four of us lost our first life."

"Four?" Techno sat up a bit.  


"Me, Wilbur, Tubbo and Fundy." 

"Fundy lost a life?" Ghostbur asked sadly.

"He doesn't talk about it much. You being his Dad, Eret being his best friend. And then all the spy shit. It was weird for him." Tommy shrugged. "But in the first war, we were losing pretty bad. Eret tells us he had a secret weapon and led us to this underground bunker. There were chests with the four of us' names on them. But they were empty. And then Eret said 'Down with the revolution boys'"

"'It was never meant to be'" Ghostbur whispered. 

"And he pressed the first button and we got locked in and slaughtered. It was the first betrayal like that on the server. It shook all of us. It's why we were nervous when you had your lake base, Techno."

"Damn. That makes sense. I remember being annoyed you guys ran over to the chests and yelled about how there were things in them." 

"Yeah. But yeah it was why Tubbo got so scared when he got trapped in. And why I get claustrophobic now."

"Oh that's not a bit?!" Techno's eyes widened.  


"Yeah. Uh yeah it's not." Tommy fidgeted nervously.  


"I'm sorry I shouldn't have left you."

"It's... it wasn't fine but I'm okay." Tommy said eventually. "Tubbo didn't realize either til I cried on him later. He felt horrible about it."

"He felt horrible about all this too." Techno sighed. "He was a mess too. Pretty sure he tried to find you for a while before he realized he should tell people."

"You're gonna hug him the next time you see him, okay?" Tommy said.

Techno chuckled. "Was gonna anyway."

A ping went off on his comms then.

_ Technoblade Minecraft, you are hereby pardoned of your charges of Terrorism, officially and completely. Effective immediately. Approved by the L'Manburg Cabinet. _

"Tubbo works fast."

"Oh? Why?"

"I'm pardoned." Techno smiled. "Alex was always so soft for crying kids."

"Alex?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. "Since when do you call Quackity Alex?"

"I met him on Hypixel, no big deal." Techno dropped his comms on the side table. "Known him so long it would be kinda weird. Anyway. He would always bring speed pots for the kids who lost to play with and run around."

"Bet he said shit about hooking them on drugs early."

"He did actually." Techno chuckled. 

"So you gonna visit more?" Tommy asked.

"I dunno. Maybe? But mostly to keep up appearances. We told Tubbo we were gonna stay here for a while. Offered to let him visit when he's out of office."

"Really?"

"Well I figure once he can also come stay out here he could know you're here. There's 4 bedrooms so there's space but worst case we could say we built a room for Ghostbur and you out of habit." Techno shrugged. "If he doesn't think he can lie he can just stay here in one of the rooms."

"That- That gives us a few weeks of him not knowing though." Tommy spoke.

"Yeah but it's only weeks instead of months if it takes that long to prepare."

"True. Thanks." Tommy nodded to himself. "Speaking of bedrooms, I'm tired as fuck." 

"Go sleep, today has been long." Techno showed Tommy up and to the room upstairs. 

"I'm sleeping with Dad. No teasing." Tommy glared at the two. 

"Not a word from me." Techno laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy wants to sleep in his dad's bed because he's sad and his dad is sad. (Phil cries when he wakes up and Tommy is there because he had a dream Tommy was Wilbur and he was gone but Tommy was there cuddling him because Tommy is safe and not dead)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy's funeral
> 
> Loads of angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating this while legally using recreational drugs. Didn't write it while I was but just some narration may be missing lmao

It was the day of the funeral. Ghostbur had been remembering more and more in the week since they had met with Tubbo. He had also since stopped correcting them when they slipped and called him Wilbur. They had talked about it once. Ghostbur was remembering more so he wasn't feeling so different from Alive Wilbur and they had all taken to specifying which they meant. Which was great but also terrifying. Because what they would do today was Wilbur's idea through and through. 

They were going to make a scene at the funeral. Ghostbur was going to snap, be a little bit more like Alive Wilbur, and yell at everyone. Tommy had just barely convinced them to let him come along. They had spent a day making an inventory full of long lasting invisibility potions to keep him hidden, and had planned out a system to make sure it wouldn't run out in front of people. Both Tommy and Phil would have timers and after taking Tommy would whisper to Phil or signal to Ghostbur so everyone knew he was covered.

Now they were walking along the nether path, Tommy already invisible, and the three were decked out in black clothes. Tommy insisted, though, that Techno wore his signature red cape, citing it was Tommy's colour too. The walk was somber. Even though they all knew Tommy was there, it was tense walking to the youngest's funeral. 

They walked along the crude path Tommy had made towards logsted months ago now and arrived at the portal, and Tommy froze. He looked to his left and the memory of this place flooded through him. His eyes locked onto the lava and he couldn't pull them away. He remembered not being allowed home. He remembered walking towards the edge. He remembered wanting to not stop at the edge. He-

"Tommy?" Ghostbur's voice broke through the memories. "Hey we're right here."

Tommy blinked and turned to the group. Phil and Techno were staring at Ghostbur but the ghost was staring at him. "Ghostbur?"

"Hey, why don't you come over here?" Ghostbur's voice was laced with concern. Tommy looked down and realized just how close to the edge he'd gotten.

"Oh fuck," he blurt out, practically sprinting away from the edge. "I didn't-"

"Hey, it's your first time here in a long time, you're okay."

"Wilbur?" Phil looked confused.

"I see him while he's invisible, remember?" 

"I almost-"

"I know. I remember being here with him. I remember what you guys said." Ghostbur interrupted. "We can talk about it later, yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Okay through the portal. You don't want to be late to your own funeral." Techno joked weakly.

The four silently piled through the portal and into the SMP. Tommy blinked, taking in the sight of the community house and the Tree he had had a picture of back in Logsted. He couldn't believe he was back. They walked down the prime path, noting how quiet the whole place was, until they reached Church Prime, there they spotted Sam standing next to the entrance to the holy land. 

"Hey Sam." Phil called out, and Sam's head snapped to them.

"Oh, hey Phil. Techno, Ghostbur." he nodded to each of them. "I'm so sorry for your loss." 

"Thanks mate." Phil nodded back. 

"People are meeting near the bench. Do you know where that is?" Sam asked.

"I do." Ghostbur spoke up. "Thanks Sam."

"Cool. Would be pretty hard to miss it."

"Oh? Why?" Phil asked.

"Well a lot of people are there. I think you guys are the last here, which given how far you guys are isn't surprising." 

"Ah, cool. Well uh, we'll see you in a bit then."

"Yeah just hanging out here for a little longer in case people come here first. Redirect them, y'know." Sam shrugged.

The four set off up the stairs, no one speaking as they walked. As they neared the peak of the hill Tommy's old home had been on they started to hear quiet chatter.

Everyone was there.  _ Everyone. _ Tommy's eyes darted around the crowd. Tubbo and Fundy were sitting on the bench, everyone else seemingly giving them space. Quackity was standing next to Ranboo closest to the two. Outside his house, George, Sapnap and Karl sat in a circle, Karl's face was red and splotchy as if he'd been crying. Niki was standing with Bad, Skeppy and Ant, she looked like she had been crying too. The next group is what really shocked him though. Punz stood next to Puffy and Callahan. He only knew Puffy for two weeks before he was exiled and Callahan had been distant as long as he could remember. 

"Oh hey, Vikk." Tommy spun to look where Phil was.  _ Vikkstar came to my funeral holy shit. _

"Phil, hey man." Vikkstar turned to face the trio he could see. "How are you holding up?"

"I mean, I'm showing up to my kid's funeral, but aside from that I'm surviving." Phil joked weakly.

"Surviving is good." Vikk chuckled back. "But really. If you ever need anything, just let me know."

Ghostbur's eyes darted to Tommy, smiling softly at the excitement on his face. "Thanks for coming, Vikk. Tommy would fanboy if he knew you came." Ghostbur said.

"He was a good kid. Genuinely. A lot of people are gonna miss him." Tommy's jaw dropped open at that. He knew he was annoying as a weird  _ bit _ a lot but genuinely he thought most people simply saw him as annoying. To hear Vikkstar saying he was good and would be missed? It was a lot.

"Yeah. I wish he'd known that." Phil nodded. He was tearing up slightly again. Phil knew he was alive, but they didn't stage his death. Tommy did jump. And he was presumed dead because of it. Because he had wanted to be dead.

"Hey, Phil. Let's go see Tubbo and Fundy." Techno put his arm around his dad's shoulder comfortingly. 

"I can give them blue!" Ghostbur piped up. Tommy nearly laughed. Ghostbur had been different recently and the old cheery blue spreading Ghostbur was definitely out of place now.

"Yeah you do that." Vikk chuckled as he floated ahead. "Ghostbur can be that baby at a funeral that makes everyone happy at the funeral."

Techno chuckled at that. "Yeah that's why we brought him instead of hiring a babysitter." He joked lightly.

"I'll let you go, but congrats on the pardon, Techno." Vikk waved and wandered off to chat with George, Sapnap and Karl.

The group walked slowly over towards the bench only to be stopped by Ranboo. "Hey wait they said only-" 

Quackity turned and his eyes widened slightly at the three. "That's them Ranboo." Quackity interrupted before continuing awkwardly. "Hey guys."

"Hey Big Q." Ghostbur beamed.

"Sorry uh, you guys haven't really been here for a while. I promise I remember you, just forgot what you looked like." Ranboo looked a bit embarrassed. "Memory issues and all that."

"Don't worry kid. We've got weird head stuff too. Runs in the family." Phil chuckled softly.

"Really?" Ranboo asked curiously. 

"Yeah. I mean Wilbur's was different but the four of us all have voices. It's like a little peanut gallery. We call them Chat a lot." Techno spoke up, letting go of Phil. "Hey Alex."

"Hey man." Quackity looked up at him then. "Look man, I'm sorry about-"

"Don't mention it." Techno shrugged.

"No, really. I- I let myself take it too far. I know about your shit more than a lot of these guys."

"I did fucked up shit, Quack. I know I did. It's why I retired." Techno assured.

"Okay now I know you're lying. No way Technoblade has retired."

"Out living all your siblings because they killed themselves changes things." Techno shrugged.

"Fuck, when you say it like that I sound like an asshole."

"You are, asshole." Techno smiled a bit at the joke. He stood still for a moment before impulsively pulling Quackity into a hug. "Missed you, dude."

"Missed you too, Tech." Quackity spoke hugging him back tightly.

"Is that Quackity and Technoblade? Hugging?" They heard from next to them. They turned to see Fundy and Tubbo staring wide eyed half turned around on the bench. Techno and Quackity pulled apart when they spotted the two stars.

"Fundy! Quackity and Techno know each other from Hypixel! Isn't that cool?" Ghostbur grinned. He quickly reached into his pockets and brought out the blue he had brought with him. "Tubbo, Phil said you'd be sad so I brought you some blue!"

Tommy walked closer to the bench and realized just how puffy both Tubbo and Fundy's eyes were. Guilt swelled in his chest seeing his best friend and nephew so heartbroken.

"O-oh thanks, Ghostbur." Tubbo sniffed really hard and scrubbed at his eyes. 

"Hey you two." Phil said, softly. "It's looking nice here."

"Thanks. Me and Tubbo did the decorating. Karl helped a bit too but mostly just got us stuff. Was kinda like the festival but yeah. It's nice." Fundy spoke up. "How you holding up, Grandpa?"

"Oh that makes me sound so old. But we've been okay. Just the three of us hiding out." Phil shrugged. "It's too quiet but it's too quiet everywhere."

"Yeah it's like that here." Fundy replied. 

"It's family only over here so they won't bug you guys." Ranboo said around Techno's side.

Tubbo's eyes widened slightly and he moved to stand up. "Oh uh, I'll-" 

"Tubbo don't be an idiot. You're family." Techno spoke, gently pushing Tubbo to sit back down. "Tommy would come back as a ghost just to kill me if I even suggested otherwise."

"But I-"

"Tubbo, just because we're not blood doesn't mean we're not both Tommy's family." Techno squeezed Tubbo's shoulder then.

"Techno I-" Tubbo cut himself off and burst into tears. Techno quickly pulled Tubbo into a hug, letting Tubbo cry into his shoulder. "I- I just miss him s-so much."

"I know Tubbo." Techno whispered soothingly. He'd gotten some practice between when he'd visited Logsted and now. 

"I shouldn't have let him be alone." Tubbo sobbed loudly into Technos cape.

"It's not your fault." Techno whispered softly. 

Slowly Phil and Fundy added themselves to the hug. Tommy stood behind Techno, his chest tightening at the sight of his  _ family  _ crying at his funeral. Tommy spotted Tubbo's hand resting on Technos back, and impulsively grabbed it softly. Phil's hand rested close to Tubbo's hand so with his free hand he held the other hand as well. 

Tommy was going to put the two hands he held together, and pull himself away, but he couldn't bring himself to. He turned his head and saw that everyone he could see was politely looking away. He smiled slightly and let himself hold their hands.

~~~~~

The group had spread themselves out in front of and on the bench. They had been chatting softly about stupid stories they had about each other, Tommy nearly laughed a few times. They were eventually interrupted by Quackity who had Skeppy in tow.

"Hey, it's time for the walk." Quackity said softly.

"You still haven't chosen which first." Skeppy said softly.

"Which what?" Techno asked. 

"One disc for the walk, one for the church." Quackity said softly.

"Oh yeah." Tubbo opened the ender chest beside the jukebox and pulled out the disc. "I uh. I still can't choose."

Ghostbur looked at Tommy then. He didn't say anything but he knew that it was the ghost asking which  _ he _ wanted. His eyes widened at the realization. He thought for a moment before pointing at the Mellohi disc and then to the jukebox.

"Why not Mellohi first?" Ghostbur asked, eyes still on Tommy. Tommy nodded to show Ghostbur he got it right. "Tommy was always all dramatic with his travel music. Cat is happy so celebrating him at the service, right?"

Phil's eyes followed Ghostbur's line of sight but along the ground, and spotted a little patch of more compressed grass, picking up on what was happening. "He's right, the dramatic shit used to make his own intense travel music." 

"Yeah okay." Tubbo nodded and slid the disc into the jukebox. Heads tipped up and towards them, all somewhat startled by the sound. Tubbo cleared his throat before speaking up. "It's- it's time for the walk down the Prime Path. We're gonna go and farm primes for Tommy one last time."

Slowly everyone stood up and began slowly walking down the path to the church. Tommy watched as everyone, and he means  _ everyone,  _ walked down the wooden path. It was quiet except for the sound of his disc. Half of them looked like they were or had been crying, the other half looked exhausted or were guiding others down the stairs. Tommy was nearly in shock at just how many people had come, the only one missing being Dream.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with a ping of his timer. Phil's head snapped up at that, pulling his own comms out.

"What's that?" Fundy asked.

"Oh uh nothing. It's just alarms I forgot to turn off. Might have a few more but they're like weekly alarms so it's just a bother to turn them off." Phil spoke, waving his hand in dismissal. 

Tommy ducked into a corner to down another invis potion and quickly rejoined the group, sending Ghostbur a thumbs up. "Hey, we should get going. If everyone else is good here." Ghostbur spoke. 

Puffy approached them then. "Tubbo, you go ahead, I'll grab the disk and head over in a minute."

"Thanks, Puffy." Tubbo smiled. "We'll see you there."

The group walked along listening to the somber music. Fundy spoke softly after a moment. "This is nice. Thank you for thinking of it, Techno."

"Don't mention it." Techno shrugged.

"He had his second death here." Tubbo spoke abruptly. 

"We could set up a plaque or something." Fundy suggested thoughtfully. 

"Yeah we could." Tubbo nodded before he started walking again. "Don't know how much Dream would like it though."

"Tommy's dead, he would be a dick to say no." Fundy said almost smugly.

"Yeah? Well who was supposed to keep him alive in the first place." Techno grumbled, picking up his pace a little bit.

"Techno, wait up." Phil jogged after him.

Tommy watched them from next to Tubbo, Fundy and Ghostbur. They walked slowly giving the pair space as they made their way.

"Are they okay?" Tubbo asked softly after a moment of silence.

"No. They both blame themselves for what happened." Ghostbur said his eyes still on the pair. "I do too a bit. I mean he was the baby of the family."

"You're different than before." Tubbo spoke in awe.

"Yeah. I am." Ghostbur sighed. "Remember how Techno talked to me at Logsted? We've been working on that. The forgetting."

"That's good." 

"Yeah. I still forget a lot but big things I'm better with." Ghostbur nodded to himself. 

"Are you gonna come back then?" Fundy asked hopefully. 

"Not for a while. After... after the funeral we're having a kind of vacation. A real one not exile." Ghostbur said sadly.

"Could I- could I come?" Fundy asked again.

"Oh... Fundy we- None of us are really-" Ghostbur stammered for a moment. "It's not a fun vacation. More a... more like we're all rehabbing ourselves. We-"

"No it's okay. I get it. To be honest thinking over it I don't know if my brain could handle Techno in vacation mode anyway." Fundy shrugged.

"We're gonna basically just work through all the issues that uh went to how the wars went down. And well Phil has his own stuff to figure out, what with how I died." Ghostbur spoke. "We're not staying away too long. We'll visit at the election if we're not... ready by then."

"Okay, cool." Fundy smiled softly.

"We aren't gonna be too far. Just where we are right now so if something happens you can always call." Ghostbur placed a hand on Fundy's shoulder. "But I know you're gonna do good without us."

"Thanks, Dad."

They watched as Techno and Phil turned and entered the church grounds. Sam stopped them for a moment saying something Tommy couldn't hear, before they moved on into the building. As they arrived at the church the sounds of Mellohi ended, and Cat's more cheery tune started from within the church.

Sam smiled sadly as they came through. "Hey guys, Tubbo and Fundy I'm sure you know this but Ghostbur, we're having people go up to the bell and ring it a few times before people find a spot to stand in for eulogies." Sam spoke softly. 

"Cool. Thanks Sam."

"Again, I'm so sorry dude." Sam patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

Ghostbur nodded and followed Tubbo and Fundy into the church. Tommy spotted Skeppy in the corner standing over a jukebox. His eyes widened realizing that Skeppy  _ had  _ brought the original disc.

Tommy's eyes scanned the room slowly, the bell ringing softly every so often. He felt his eyes water seeing all of his friends. It had been so long since he'd seen so many of them.  _ Purpled  _ and _ Alyssa  _ had come and no one had seen them in ages.  _ They came for me? _

Tommy's eyes flicked over to Karl, Sapnap and Quackity. Karl was sobbing into Sapnap's shoulder while the two quietly comforted him. It confused him to no end why Karl would be so affected, so he quietly walked over to the trio.

"I- I could've done- He shouldn't have died- He wasn't supposed to  _ die _ " He heard faintly from Karl.

"I know, Karl, I know." Sapnap whispered as he rubbed circles into Karl's back.

"But- But you don't- He wasn't-"

"Mi amor, you couldn't have known what he was going through" Quackity spoke this time, running a comforting hand through Karl's hair.

"I tried- I just-"

"We know. We miss him too." Sapnap said, pulling Karl closer. Tommy realized then that Sapnap was crying too.

Tommy stood shocked watching them. Karl's sobbing slowly edged off into harsh sniffing and puffy eyes as he remembered all the time he had spent with the three. The three each had such a different friendship with Tommy that it almost seemed weird that they would exist as one unit but he knew the three had their confusing but sweet relationship. Tommy would look at them when he was feeling especially pessimistic about the state of the SMP. None of them ever seemed to be on the same side in conflict, real star crossed lovers if you will, but at the end of the day they would cross borders and lay down weapons to just exist with one another. They were what the SMP had been in the beginning, and what Tommy hoped the SMP could be after it all was done.

Tommy was pulled from his thoughts as Ghostbur came up next to him. Karl's head was still pressed into Sapnap's shoulder and Quackity had yet to pull away. Tommy looked between them and Ghostbur. Impulsively, Tommy reached a hand into Ghostbur's pocket and pressed some blue into the ghost's hand. Ghostbur looked shocked at Tommy but smiled as he felt the crystals in his hand.

"Hey guys." Ghostbur said cheerfully. "You look like you could use some blue. I feel like Tommy would want you to have it." Ghostbur took Quackity's free hand and placed a large amount into it. "Enough for the three of you."

"Oh, thanks man." Quackity spoke as Karl looked up.

"Tommy would?" Karl asked softly.

"Blue helps sad go away. If he were here I'm sure he'd give it to you himself."

"That's- not what I expected..." Karl chuckled wetly. Then for just a moment Karl's eyes widened slightly. Tommy was almost sure he imagined it. "Thanks Wilbur."

"He's not-" Quackity started.

"No problem, Karl." Ghostbur smiled and then turned to stand with Phil and Techno.

Tommy tuned out the rest of what the trio said as he watched Tubbo finally approach the bell. Tubbo slowly rang it, tears running down his face. Everyone turned when it went silent. Tubbo cleared his throat and spoke. 

"Tommy was my best friend. We found each other when we were both alone, Tommy because he had finally left home for the first time and me when I first had lost the Captain. He and I, we became each other's watcher. We kept each other safe and tried to keep each other sane." Tubbo smiled softly to himself. "He helped me to be the best me I can be and he introduced me to so many of you. He helped me find my dad, and in the meantime he gave me a second family. He gave me brothers in Techno and Wilbur and a weird uncle-dad in Phil. And most of all he gave me a home. He gave me L'Manburg. He gave me the chance to do so many amazing things with so many amazing people. And always until the end, I knew that no matter what I did, no matter how much I fucked up, if I needed him, he would be here." Tubbo stopped for a moment to wipe tears away from his face. "Tommy gave us all something. Whether it's just happy memories or something to fight for, and that's brought us all here today. So here's to those happy memories. I'm gonna miss you Big T."

A few people also took turns giving small speeches, Quackity told the story of their cartel and George told a story from early on the server. Tommy caught movement out of the corner of his eye and when he looked he saw Ghostbur striding forward to the front of the church.  _ It's time. _

Tommy hated this next bit. He knew they were digging into wounds. But they had talked about this for hours. They needed allies and they needed Dream to lose them. And so they were pressing into his friends' grief.

Ghostbur took his place at the front and sighed heavily. "Hi everyone. I'm sure almost everyone knows but for those who don't, I'm Ghostbur, and when I was alive, I was Wilbur, Tommy's brother. Growing up with Tommy as a little brother is probably what you'd expect. He was loud, and annoying, and always there when you just wanted to be alone. But those moments, me and my little brother, are the moments I remember most. Those moments of me and Techno and Dad, just laughing our asses off while he shouted at us are some of the happiest memories I have." Ghostbur looked at Tommy then. "I loved Tommy with all my heart when I was alive, and I still do." Tommy felt his heart swell at the words. He smiled back at Ghostbur, mouthing  _ I love you too idiot _ . Ghostbur let his expression harden. "But now... Dream took him from me. He took him from all of us. He did what he ALWAYS does and MANIPULATES us." Phil took half a step forward before stopping himself. "Dream KILLED Tommy. And he fucking broke my brother to do it. But you know what? You are all responsible too."

"Ghostbur, come on-" Phil started. 

"No. NO!" The ghost shouted. "Seriously tell me. WHICH ONE OF YOU TRIED TO STOP HIM? Dream just asks for something and you just GIVE IT TO HIM! And you didn't hesitate to trade his LIFE for what?"

"Ghostbur, please" Phil tried again.

"They don't get to just cry over Tommy and go back to fawning over him." Ghostbur bit out, and turned back to the crowd. "Each and every one of you let Tommy be alone with Dream. Even me. But at least I know my part in this. I know I fucked up. I know I should have remembered more sooner. But I didn't know better! Every single one of you has watched Dream HUNT A CHILD, watched as he took the things Tommy cared about, watched as he ISOLATED him. And you let him TORTURE Tommy until he fucking KILLED HIMSELF. You all fucking did that. And it's not even like he hid it well. He manipulated and hurt people in front of your faces. You watched what he did to Tubbo too. The way he threatened him? And you lot haven't done anything. You let Tommy think you didn't care. You let him fucking die- I'm sorry I-" Ghostbur stopped abruptly, shaking his head and promptly bolted out of the church.

Half way out the building the ghost disappeared. Tommy bolted after Ghostbur, head whipping around looking for any sign of him. He had turned the corner around the monument to Tubbo's house when Ghostbur reappeared. 

"I'm gonna go invisible again in a second because I want to hug you, is that okay?" Ghostbur spoke softly.

Tommy nodded, still careful about making noise. And then Ghostbur was gone and hugging Tommy. Tommy brought his arms around Ghostbur carefully

"Wilbur?" Phil called carefully.

"Over here, Phil. Anyone with you?" 

"Not unless they're invis."

Ghostbur scanned the area quickly. "We're good. I've got Tommy."

"Oh thank god." Phil sighed. "I already told them we were going to head home. And I told Tubbo I would chat with him later this week. We're set to go."

"Where's Techno?" Tommy asked quietly. 

"Skeppy and Tubbo wanted to talk to him, while I found Ghostbur."

"Can we go home?"

"Yeah I told him we might go ahead. Let's go home." Phil smiled softly. "Take another invis before we head out."

Tommy nodded instinctively, forgetting Phil couldn't see him, but simply moved on and drank the potion and handed Phil the empty bottle.

"Okay let's head off."

The trio walked silently all the way back to the cottage. Tommy didn't look down the entire walk through the nether, instead focusing on the two he was walking with. 

They walked through the doors of the cottage and Tommy immediately grabbed the milk they had left in a chest for when they got back. Tommy sighed in relief as he felt himself become visible again. 

"You guys are back quick." Techno chuckled, from his spot on the couch, startling Tommy.

"You dickhead! How the hell did you beat us?"

"Pearl launching. Brought my trident just in case." Techno grinned. "Tommy, I have something for you."

"Really?" Tommy perked up. 

"So I made a choice that I think you would like. Tubbo and Skeppy wanted me to take both discs."

"They what?!" Tommy shouted.

"Both discs. Some sort of bringing them here with us because family, right. But... I told Tubbo to keep the one you gave him." Techno spoke. 

"And Cat?" Tommy asked.

"Well..." Techno spoke sliding a box over to Tommy. "Skeppy isn't family, Tubbo is. So Tubbo kept his but I thought you might want that."

Tommy carefully opened the box and gasped. "It's my disc!" 

"Tubbo confirmed it and everything. He thinks it's the real one and since I had never touched the thing I took his word." Techno smiled softly. "I figured Tubbo should keep his disc until he can give it to you himself."

Tommy felt himself crying. He had his disc. And Tubbo had the other. They were finally safe.

"Was that... was that good?" Techno said, his voice now slightly unsure.

Tommy dropped the lid of the box and launched himself at Techno. "Thank you." He sobbed.

"Yeah it was good." Ghostbur smiled softly. "Definitely good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Also pay attention to Karlllllll he crying. 
> 
> As always I'm excited for any questions!

**Author's Note:**

> You have reached the end of the updates! Yell at me in the comments I respond a lot lol
> 
> I answer questions too so dont worry about asking!


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